Toys R Us files Chapter 11

[Dynaman]

The nearest TRU when I was growing up was an hour away so only went there a couple of times - my young self thought it was awesome but times have moved on.  The thrill of seeing something new in a store is long gone - I can (and always will from now on) know about anything I might see in a store long before I would see it in the store.  The internet has made it impossible not to know about new products.

[Scyla]

So it seems like Toys R Us is done for good which is sad news: http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/03/15/goodbye-toys-r-us-us-stores-close-360892

To end on a positive note I thought I might share my most beloved childhood memory I have about TRU. Feel free to join in I would love to hear some more stories. 

Here is mine:

When I was a small child my parents took me on a trip to the United States in the late 80s and I was around the age of 8 or 9. Since I grew up in a small village I never knew something like Toys R Us exists in the world. So when we visit a store during the trip I was baffled about the size and variety of product available in such a gigantic toy store knowing only the small mom and pop toy stores of my home town. I also though the reversed "R" was strange. I knew little English at the time so the store name didn't made any sense to me. My dad explained that it is done as a brand recognition thing. All I cared about was that I recognized what Toys meant. Since my parents didn't have much money getting a toy was reserved for birthdays, Christmas and special occasions. 

I'm sure that this is an exaggeration but in my mind there where countless rows in the storewith shelfs that went up all the way to the ceiling of the building. I never knew they had Lego in the US, I thought this would be something that you can only found in Europe yet there was this gigantic row of Lego sets. And all the other unknown toy lines: I never heard about G.I.Joe for example. I knew of He Man and of course Transformers but in the small toy stores I visited in my country they only had a handful of items for a given line. 

If I remember correctly they had a weird system where you had to pull out a coupon for electronic/high priced items and you went up to the cashier with it to pay for the item. Afterwards you picked it up at a different counter. That was totally weird to me.

So my mother decided to buy me something out of store as a souvenir for my visit to the US. She was totally opposed to the idea that I owned any computer games but since "war toys" (like G.I. Joe/He Man/Transfomers) where out of the question and a construction set like Lego was hard to transport on a trip she didn't had much choice. So after much whining from my side my mother decided to get me an original GameBoy which changed my life. It might helped that a road trip through the Mid West was planned so she probably thought this would keep me quiet during the long hours on the road.

Having a GameBoy really changed my life and I grew up to become an obsessed gamer. So she probably regretted her decision to buy me my first gaming device. Of course I got a copy of Tetris and Super Mario Land.

And here it is 30 years later sill running Super Mario Land:

Edited March 15, 2018 by Scyla

[Mommar]

46 minutes ago, Scyla said:

So it seems like Toys R Us is done for good which is sad news: http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/03/15/goodbye-toys-r-us-us-stores-close-360892

To end on a positive note I thought I might share my most beloved childhood memory I have about TRU. Feel free to join in I would love to hear some more stories. 

Here is mine:

When I was a small child my parents took me on a trip to the United States in the late 80s and I was around the age of 8 or 9. Since I grew up in a small village I never knew something like Toys R Us exists in the world. So when we visit a store during the trip I was baffled about the size and variety of product available in such a gigantic toy store knowing only the small mom and pop toy stores of my home town. I also though the reversed "R" was strange. I knew little English at the time so the store name didn't made any sense to me. My dad explained that it is done as a brand recognition thing. All I cared about was that I recognized what Toys meant. Since my parents didn't have much money getting a toy was reserved for birthdays, Christmas and special occasions. 

I'm sure that this is an exaggeration but in my mind there where countless rows in the storewith shelfs that went up all the way to the ceiling of the building. I never knew they had Lego in the US, I thought this would be something that you can only found in Europe yet there was this gigantic row of Lego sets. And all the other unknown toy lines: I never heard about G.I.Joe for example. I knew of He Man and of course Transformers but in the small toy stores I visited in my country they only had a handful of items for a given line. 

If I remember correctly they had a weird system where you had to pull out a coupon for electronic/high priced items and you went up to the cashier with it to pay for the item. Afterwards you picked it up at a different counter. That was totally weird to me.

So my mother decided to buy me something out of store as a souvenir for my visit to the US. She was totally opposed to the idea that I owned any computer games but since "war toys" (like G.I. Joe/He Man/Transfomers) where out of the question and a construction set like Lego was hard to transport on a trip she didn't had much choice. So after much whining from my side my mother decided to get me an original GameBoy which changed my life. It might helped that a road trip through the Mid West was planned so she probably thought this would keep me quiet during the long hours on the road.

Having a GameBoy really changed my life and I grew up to become an obsessed gamer. So she probably regretted her decision to buy me my first gaming device. Of course I got a copy of Tetris and Super Mario Land.

And here it is 30 years later sill running Super Mario Land:

Great story.  It’s awesome you still have your gameboy.  Where were you visiting from?  

[sh9000]

My TRU will be closing in 2 months.  I’ll stop using my TRU credit card.

[Mommar]

6 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

My TRU will be closing in 2 months.  I’ll stop using my TRU credit card.

Could you find me one of those two packs first?

[sh9000]

10 minutes ago, Mommar said:

Could you find me one of those two packs first?

I’ll try to find one for you.

[jvmacross]

Used all my "rewards" last week when the news was leaked....it was funny because other than Christmas or Black Friday....I had not seen a TRU so packed in a while....lots of folks cashing in gift cards and rewards cash....

In the end we'll just have Amazon and Google......and they'll merge into the BnL Corporation....

 

[Mommar]

Dang, shelves at the East Side store are already emptying.

[TangledThorns]

Aw poop. Babies R Us is closing too. We've been going to BRU since we started having kids and just had our son last Christmas so now we have to use our gift cards within the next 30 days. We liked BRU as they let you try car seats to see if they fit in your car before buying them and returning items such as feeding bottles was easy too.

http://www.businessinsider.com/babies-r-us-stores-will-close-but-registries-remain-2018-3

[M'Kyuun]

Just returned from TRU, and though it was busier than what I'd expect a normal Friday morning to be, it wasn't mobbed, there are no 'store closing' signs, the shelves were well stocked, and when I queried the cashier as to their last day, she indicated she didn't know. Now, they may be told not to give any info as to the final date to patrons, which is kinda understandable to keep the chaos to a minimum. Personally, my own hope is that they'll be part of the potential Canadian TRU buyout and hopefully remain open, even if it's in a limited capacity. Fingers crossed.

Managed to snag their last copy of the LEGO Saturn V, which I'm going to squirrel away.  I was surprised it was still there, as there were only two copies last weekend, and I expected them to get scooped up through the week, esp given the circumstances. I've been regretting not picking one up all week.  Fate is generally a heartless bastard, but today he smiled on me. I hope he smiles on our TRU, too. After my visit, I'm feeling rather melancholy over the eventual loss of TRU, and moreover, for the folks who are losing their jobs/careers due to the closures. It's a very disheartening turn of events.

[JetJockey]

On 3/15/2018 at 5:41 PM, Dynaman said:

The thrill of seeing something new in a store is long gone - I can (and always will from now on) know about anything I might see in a store long before I would see it in the store.  The internet has made it impossible not to know about new products.

 

That's not entirely true. I've posted before on MFC that I still haven't found one site that covers everything for figures, statues, toys, games, etc. I have to search a bunch. It's still possible for me to miss something.

 

The closing isn't surprising but still sad that those executives couldn't turn the stores around. It was probably too late back when I stopped going to Toys R Us some time in the mid 2000s. But then they are covered anyway success or fail. It shouldn't be that Amazon, Walmart, or Target is now the place to go for toys or videogames.

[Dynaman]

5 minutes ago, JetJockey said:

 

That's not entirely true. I've posted before on MFC that I still haven't found one site that covers everything for figures, statues, toys, games, etc. I have to search a bunch. It's still possible for me to miss something.

 

One site maybe not, but across all of them there is nothing I see in a store that I have not known was coming for at least a year or more, unless there was no announcement at all and even then I still see it online first.

[Mommar]

Son of a bitch.  You’d think it was Christmas around here.

[renegadeleader1]

This might be a New England thing, but honestly I miss Child World closing more than I do Toys R Us closing.

[jenius]

Went to my local TRU today while i waited for my take-out order... I love taking my kids there and letting them check out all the toys and remembering how I used to be so excited to go there. It was sad to think we won't be doing that any more. One funny bit though, there's a giant NOW HIRING banner in front of the store. It's kind of hard to imagine people applying.

[renegadeleader1]

18 minutes ago, jenius said:

Went to my local TRU today while i waited for my take-out order... I love taking my kids there and letting them check out all the toys and remembering how I used to be so excited to go there. It was sad to think we won't be doing that any more. One funny bit though, there's a giant NOW HIRING banner in front of the store. It's kind of hard to imagine people applying.

Take the job for a month, hide everything you want the first day in the back, and when everything hits 50% off clearance use that plus employee discount then quit.

[Roy Focker]

Visited my local store.  It wasn't on the list of stores to close first.   More people visiting than normal.  Nothing on sale.  Just the same sad store with pegs only half full of unsold product that came out over a year ago.  Same old same old.  They've been on the decline for well over a decade. 

[JetJockey]

18 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

This might be a New England thing, but honestly I miss Child World closing more than I do Toys R Us closing.

I remember that store from the wiki image but I thought it was called Circus World. I guess that's one of those things that happen when you get older. I remember it for those arch openings and castle design. That store closed way before Toys R Us. I'll read the wiki to see why but I remember as big as they were, Toys R Us always seemed to have more customers. I don't remember getting videogames at Child World either.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, JetJockey said:

I remember it for those arch openings and castle design

Wasn't that Children's Palace?

[TangledThorns]

Went to our local BRU then TRU today. The TRU was much busier but didn't see any great deals in either store, got my three year old daughter a couple of activity games like Elefun and Hungry Hungry Hippo that was cheaper than Amazon's pricing. We'll probably go back during the store's liquidation to buy stuff for her birthday later this year.

Still, saw lots of cool toys in TRU that I wish existed when I was a kid.

[mikeszekely]

On 3/17/2018 at 7:58 PM, JB0 said:

Wasn't that Children's Palace?

Yep! Children's Palace was the best!  It was really one of the two big places my parents took me toy shopping as a kid.  When Children's Palace went out, that's when the first TRU came to my area, and I wasn't as into it.

Oh, and the other big toy store from my childhood?  Kay Bee Toys.  Which is funny, because a company known for reviving zombie trademarks called Strategic Marks is apparently bringing Kay Bee back.

[Kelsain]

I remember Child World! My memory tells me that the aisles were much neater than TRU, more space overall. I remember buying StarComm toys there.

KB was great too, back in the day. 'Course, it was awesome to be able to buy actual Japanese toys in TRU, like the 1/72 Dougram figures, or the Gakken Legioss & Dunbine.

[TangledThorns]

Remember FAO Schwarz? That is where the rich parents shopped for their kids. 

[mickyg]

Very fond memories of KB.  Not nearly the same memories of TRU though. Something about the massive size of the place and the fact that the toys were stacked to the ceiling. Definitely got a lot of stuff there but KB always had a better feel to my 7 year old self.

I will never forget my first memories of shopping at said, 'stacked to the ceiling TRU' in San Mateo though.  My dad had told me that if I got good grades, I could get something from there, to a certain dollar figure (no idea what that was).  By this time, I think I'd acquired a decent number of Transformers (like 4 or 5 in those days), had a decent collection of Lego, and wanted something different.  My heart was set on the massive Erector Set (Meccano to anyone not in the US) with the cool twin cockpit 'spaceship' on the front.  After achieving that academic goal, the set was mine!  I don't recall doing much with it and it didn't stick around as long as my Lego or Transformers collection did, but that experience definitely stuck out in my mind.

Every other toy shopping experience that made an impression was KB and Toy and Model (I think that's what it was called?).  And they were both small.  I wonder why they stick out more in my mind than the mega store that TRU was, even in the mid '80s?

[Chronocidal]

Oy.. I remember Children's Palace from when I was little, and Kaybee from much later on.  Kaybee was always the little hole-in-the-wall shop by comparison, but I managed to grab a few fun things there over the years.  Think it's where I picked up one of those old 1/200 Testors VF-1 repops of the Nichimo kits.  

TRU Will always have a special spot due to the times I spent there with family.  Went to the grand opening of the Colorado Springs one, and at various points came back with a bicycle for my birthday, some old MegaForce toys and the GI Joe Crusader shuttle bought by my grandparents, and all manner of little LEGO sets and games over the years.  Also where I picked up several of the nicer Star Wars pieces I've gotten over the years, like the giant FX X-Wing, and more recent B-Wing.

I think as this generation comes to miss that experience, the demand will be ripe for a comeback.  Online shopping is great for getting exactly what you want, but it's nothing like watching little kids run from aisle to aisle, trying to choose something they like.

[Mommar]

The KB people could be smart.  If everything TRU is liquidated they could buy up the old buildings for cheap, move in and continue on where TRU left off.  If it weren’t for the massive $400 million interest on top of their debt TRU would have been profitable.

[mikeszekely]

51 minutes ago, mickyg said:

Every other toy shopping experience that made an impression was KB and Toy and Model (I think that's what it was called?).  And they were both small.  I wonder why they stick out more in my mind than the mega store that TRU was, even in the mid '80s?

Can't speak for you, but in my case it was becasue KB was in the mall, and Children's Palace/TRU was its own thing.  My parents didn't really like taking me to the toy store because they didn't want to go out just to hear me beg them to buy something.  But my dad was really into music (he played bass in a band before I was born), so he liked going to the mall to shop the record stores (remember those?).  Since we were already there, it was a lot easier for me to get to KB.

[mickyg]

Yeah, that makes perfect sense.  Come to think of it, every single TRU here in Australia is in a shopping mall.  Last I heard, the Australian ones aren't going to be closing.  No idea how that International relationship works but it sounds like the Aussie ones are safe.  For now...

Man, the name of that toy store in Norcal in the mid to late '80s is gonna bug me now.  Wish I could recall it...

 

Edited March 21, 2018 by mickyg

[mickyg]

2 hours ago, mickyg said:

(Trimmed).......  My heart was set on the massive Erector Set (Meccano to anyone not in the US) with the cool twin cockpit 'spaceship' on the front.  .....(/Trimmed)

Found it!

https://goo.gl/images/5yMoZY

Edited March 21, 2018 by mickyg

[sh9000]

http://news.toyark.com/2018/03/20/toys-r-us-liquidation-sales-begin-thursday-march-22nd-2018-293739

[renegadeleader1]

2 hours ago, mickyg said:

Found it!

https://goo.gl/images/5yMoZY

That was the set I had. Shame that two years after I had it built it rusted out. That's why I always prefered legos or construx to director sets, they last longer. 

[Kelsain]

3 hours ago, mickyg said:

Found it!

https://goo.gl/images/5yMoZY

Yeah! Me too!

And.... I also got bored with it pretty quickly...

[mickyg]

Yup. Mine rusted out too as I recall.  And the fit was terrible as I recall.  And fragile.  Says something quite amazing about how great a toy Lego is.

In regards to this thread, I sometimes wonder if toys themselves are what cause a place to stop being profitable.  Our own consumerism and boredom can sometimes be the very thing that'll shut a store down.  That and sheer selection.

Toys R Us had so much selection, with so many choices, it's hard to believe that everything was capable of selling.  I don't run a mega corporation but you gotta wonder if having too many things is a smart move.

Might also explain why I preferred the smaller shops.  They had far less to choose from but it's like the owners there knew what would sell and only stocked that.  But then again, they went under too...

[TangledThorns]

9 hours ago, sh9000 said:

http://news.toyark.com/2018/03/20/toys-r-us-liquidation-sales-begin-thursday-march-22nd-2018-293739

I'll be going to my local TRU tomorrow after work then. Already got a list of stuff for my three and a half little girl that I know she wants, mainly Barbie

[Knight26]

MY local TRU has been having the Going out of business sale for about month now, but all the best stuff was either not marked down, or had minimal mark downs.  The store just went to 50% off most of hte store, and most of the stuff the boys and I want are gone.  Lego stuff still fills the shelves as it is only 10% off, and Star Wars toys (figures, vehicles, nerf) also fill shelves despite before 50% off.  I'm waiting for the Recoil blasters to go to 70% off then I will snatch up a couple of those.